Eight Blue Waves showcased their math skills at the Millsaps College High School Mathematics Competition in Jackson on Nov. 1, where seniors Grant Zhang and JT Sistrunk placed second and third individually, respectively, and MSMS earned second place overall.

MSMS Team A — consisting of juniors Amy Choi and JD Miller and seniors Anthony Nguyen and Grant Zhang — and MSMS Team B — consisting of juniors Anthony Chen and Maya Venkat and seniors Colin Chung and JT Sistrunk — placed second and fourth, respectively, in the team round.

The competition consisted of two individual tests: a ciphering round with 10 questions and a written test with 20 questions. Following the individual round was a team round consisting of higher-problem-solving questions.

Sistrunk said he did not expect to place in the top five.

“I really thought I was going to get maybe top 10,” Sistrunk said. “I was really shocked and really happy about it.”

Zhang said participating at Millsaps, much like other math competitions, pushed him to think in new ways.

“[Math competitions] are great opportunities to sharpen your skills,” Zhang said. “They have helped me advance my critical thinking.” 

MSMS math teacher Shae Koenigsberger said it’s important to focus on learning to function as a team.

“Even though you may know some math and you may have some really mean problem-solving skills, you have to know how to function as a group to produce the best results,” Koenigsberger said. 

Chen said his team’s skills were put to good use when working together.

“Working with my team was lovely,” Chen said. “Though the team math was truly evil, my team worked valiantly to solve it. We split up the work, and at the end, we all came together to double-check answers.” 

Sistrunk said he was glad he signed up to participate in this competition and said he encourages other students to do the same.

“It’s a really fun experience,” Sistrunk said. “Even if you don’t think you’re going to do well, you might surprise yourself.”